Rosebud Azaleas

I wanted to show you my sweet Rosebud Azaleas and give you an update about what’s going on around this old house. If you are here for the giveaway you will need to scroll down a few posts.

This variety of Azalea is my very favorite.

I finally cleaned out this area of the front planter that rounds the corner of the house and planted a hydrangea in the space. Time will tell if the blooms will stay purple.

My cement block plantings are mostly doing real well. The wild rabbits that roam around here have eaten all the pansy blooms, though.

Things are going well with my extraction recovery. I never really experienced any pain to speak of which is nice. I’ll be getting the stitches out on Wednesday if they haven’t dissolved on their own. I’m still on a relatively soft diet so I don’t hurt the area that is healing. Although I still have a few days of antibiotics left I am off the Ibuprofen. Thank you for your kind thoughts. My de-fluffing progress was hindered by being on medication and being off my regular meal regiment but I’m happy to report things are still going well.

Happy Victoria Day weekend to our friends in Canada!

Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree

“Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree”

Don’t sit under the apple tree
With anyone else but me
Anyone else but me
Anyone else but me
No no no

Don’t sit under the apple tree
With anyone else but me
’til I come marching home
Don’t go walking down lovers lane
With anyone else but me
Anyone else but me
Anyone else but me
No no no

Its lyrics are the words of two young lovers who pledge their fidelity while one of them is away serving in the war. Made popular by Glen Miller and the Andrew’s Sisters during World War II. Just yesterday as I walked under our apple tree and commented on the beauty of the blossoms, Dear called out “Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me”.

Seems somewhat appropriate that I post this song and my apple blossom photos as our daughter Katie and I think about packing the car to head to Camp Lejeune for her to be reunited with her beloved who has been serving with the Marines in Afghanistan since September.

No, don’t go walking down lovers’ lane
No, walking down lovers’ lane till you see
When you see me marching home
Then we’ll go arm in arm and
Sit down under the apple tree
Baby, just you and me
When I come marching home

Happy Friday to you all. Today Katie and I have hair appointments and Dear and I have eye appointments. Am I packed? No. I do have some piles going. Katie has made some good progress. We both have 1 P.M. events tomorrow and then tomorrow evening we’ll pack up the car.

What’s going on in your part of the world?

Five Amazing Things…

I have time this Friday to join in with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday’s Fave Five! It’s been awhile and it will probably be a couple weeks before I can join in again.

This is a post about amazing things. The most amazing thing is that Jesus Christ laid down his perfect life to save all who are lost in their own sin. I was lost in myself and now I see how big my God is and how he saved me with His perfection…Jesus Christ.

Our son Dan sent me this photo from his yard over the internet. Amazing things…beautiful lilac, a lovely butterfly and the internet where I can enjoy this photo minutes after our son took it from 6 hours driving distance away!

Amazing how time flies! Weren’t we just celebrating Christmas!? Here we are on the brink of June!

It’s amazing to me that we are planning a trip to Great Britain in September with our son and his dear wife. Their first time, Dear and my 6th time together. Very excited to see England on our son and daughter in law’s terms. Each of our children are different and England holds so much to see to cover each of their particular interests. With Katie it was mostly literary, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Jane Austen. With Josh it has to include Soccer! Laura and I will push for the quaint and lovely and probably a play or musical to enjoy…

Last amazing thing is related to our daughter’s literary interests. We found this Christmas card/offer from Dear to our Katie to read a book out loud to her when she was 3. She turned 4 just after Christmas that year and asked Dear to read her The Hobbit. He read it out loud to her and she recalls the fact that he used several different voices for the different characters in the book. Dear bought this copy of The Hobbit on one of his trips to England in the early 70’s. Our Katie to this day is the most interested in reading and enjoys several literary styles. The card had an expiration date on it added by her dad and Katie crossed it out and added the “Not expirable”. Katie is quite amazing as she was reading and understanding a wide vocabulary at a very early age.

I’m so looking forward to catching up with all the FFF participants and seeing what’s new in your worlds…

Nesting at 60 Something…

Is there such a thing as menopausal nesting? This Memorial weekend seemed like a non stop nesting event for both myself and Dear. We organized, trashed and reorganized a lot of our junk. We made trips to the metal recycling sight and now have more piles of stuff to get rid of. Good times. We had some sunshine, some mist, some rain, cold mornings, warm afternoons. We enjoyed good company and our time with each other. Some of our motivation to clean out is the fact that we are getting ready to finally replace our well worn floors in this old house.

All of these spaces will be hardwood by the end of July. Once the hardwood is added we will choose and plan the timing to have carpeting replaced in our bedrooms and living room. Makes me tired just thinking about it. I took some time to walk about the yard with my camera for some relaxing distraction.

The Camellias are at the end of their glory.

I’m excited to see my 5 Peonies that will soon burst forth into their full bloom. Last year I only had one.

My Rhoddies are dropping their blooms.

As some blooms are fading we have the promise of more blooms to come.

I ended my walk about the yard by looking up. It’s good to remember to keep looking up!

Psalm 121: 1-8 (ESV)

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

Hope you had time to look up, too. Blessings.

Mind the Gap…

There was a gap today between cloudy spitting weather and more cloudy spitting skies. When the beautiful gap of sunshine appeared I was still in my robe and slippers but decided to head out to get some new photos of our May yard. If my neighbors had blogs they would have some fun posts catching me outside in my indoor garb!

I really like this variety of pink azalea. I couldn’t tell you what the variety is but it’s buds and blooms are sweet.

After our Bible Study last night I turned on the T.V. before going to bed to some news that made the title of this post just a wee bit prophetic. A bridge that is part of our Interstate 5 between me and Canada had a section collapse. As Judy in her comment says I’ll have to mind that Gap as I travel to Canada early in June. 70,000 travelers a day will have to mind that gap.

This is a photo from google images. This is the road I’ve driven on time and time again to go to the northern part of our state or to head to the Canadian border. This is going to slow down lots of travelers who will be re-routed to other roads to get north or south. We are all so thankful the people in the cars that plunged into the very cold Skagit River were rescued in a timely manner and were not seriously hurt.

And to the more mundane…Friday I have 2 appointments in the morning and then Dear and I will start enjoying our 3 day weekend with him hopefully getting off early from work. We are going to stick close to home this weekend. How about you? Are you traveling or staying home?

The Merry Month of May…

My yard busts out in all it’s pink glory in the Month of May. Get ready for pink overload. I’ll throw in some non-pink, too, just for some contrast.

The Rhododendron is the Washington State Flower. We have 4 mature plants in our yard. We added a new Rhoddy last year from our trip to the Rhododendron garden on Whidbey Island. When it blooms it should be yellow.

Here’s that little break from pink I was talking about. This is one of our dwarf Top Hat Blueberry bushes that can thrive in pots.

Our Rosemary bush is in full bloom. We use the fresh rosemary year round in cooking.

These pansies are still making me smile. I can see them from my kitchen window.

More proof that I have other flowers that aren’t pink in my yard and on my deck.

My Lenten Rose has gone mostly green at the end of it’s cycle.

My azaleas are full. This darker variety is in full bloom and the light pink has all budded and waiting to open up fully.

My Dogwood tree only has two blooms this season and my lilac has none. I’m wondering if I planted the lilac in a spot that is too shady…

Yes, my Dogwood tree when it blooms fully should also be a lovely blast of pink. Here’s hoping it thrives…

Hope you are thriving and enjoying Spring wherever you are and as not to forget our friends in the Southern Hemisphere you should be enjoying your Fall. Have a great weekend everyone.

Apple Blossoms

Apple Blossoms

God might have clothed the apple trees
In scentless brown of gray —
Such frail and fleeting blossoming,
So soon to pass away —

Instead of this fair springtime garb
Of fragrant pink and pearl,
That flutters down like rosy snow
On every breeze a-whirl.

His goodness gives the pleasant fruit
On laden boughs down-bent;
His lovingkindness adds the bloom,
Its beauty and its scent.

He loads us with His benefits
Until no want we know,
And then He sends the little more
That makes our cup o’erflow.

He opens wide His hand of love;
He gives no stingy dole;
His tender mercies crown our days:
O bless the Lord, my soul!

Annie Johnson Flint (1866-1932)

California is back to it’s old ways of showing off it’s sunshine. All my family is slowly trickling in today. Two more to go. I got to see the Bride and Groom last night along with my folks and may brother’s family from Dallas. Their daughter will be one of the flower girls and she was quite confident about her task since she has gotten experience in two of her cousin’s weddings in the last year.

I haven’t taken one photo since I’ve gotten here but tomorrow is the wedding so my camera will be clicking away!

Hope all is well in your part of the world. We’re hearing a lot about droughts and floods. Hope things won’t be as bad as they are predicting.

Home Again…

…for a short time.

We had a good drive back and forth to the far North East of our state. We made it over Snoqualmie Pass with no restrictions both ways. We had a very nice visit with our son. I’ll be uploading my photos and sharing more about our trip tomorrow or Friday. For now I’m sharing the photos I took of my Lenten Rose this past weekend.

We are unpacking and getting ready for our next adventure at this old house. I hope to come around soon and see what you all have been up to soon!

Primrose Delight!

On the first Tuesday of the month Fred Meyer Stores offer a 10% discount to anyone 55 and older for a variety of products sold in their store. I enjoy taking advantage of these simple perks. Pretty primrose varieties called out to me with thoughts about a Valentine Day tablescape. I also bought some bird seed for the upcoming GBCC ~ Great Backyard Bird Count. I think I found a purse that will hold my camera and travel documents for our upcoming trip to Milan, too.

When I got home I decided to take photos of the flowers in the lovely sunshine. An hour after I took these photos the clouds and rain rolled in.

Our little piece of property used to be part of a larger piece of property with a nursery on it called Primrose Acres. This information is from word of mouth (not documented) from an old gardener down the road from us. I choose to believe it and like the idea that my little part of the world had such a charming name in the past.

What’s going on in your corner of the world? This is a quiet week here except for our tax prep appointment but we never know what each new day may bring our way…

What’s New…

…in my zoo!

Speaking of new…Happy Rosh Hashana to all our Jewish friends. The Jewish New Year begins this evening and ends September 18th. L ‘Shana Tova!

I finally put away my red, white and blue. My fall bins are ready to come down from the attic. I was at Target and saw these fall tin wall pieces and they were priced right for me…

I subbed out my plates for the tin pumpkins and pear for the Fall season. That might just be a tall skinny pumpkin but we’re calling it a pear after our pear bounty here. At Christmas time I’ll add something new again.

Here’s a closer view of the pumpkin. These pieces were $2.50 each.

On Saturday Dear and I went to Cabela’s in Tulalip and while he was spending his gift card from the kids I found this table top tripod for myself. I’ll be using it for my food photos.

I bought this crown shelf piece to incorporate with my Christmas and Easter decor celebrating Christ as my King.

My hydrangeas are fading but still beautiful to my eye.

The maple leaves are falling and before we know it the lawn will be totally covered! Look at all that clover in my grass…

Later on Saturday the work continued on the siding with Josh helping again. I made a big pot of chili for the workers to enjoy when they were done.

Progress is good to watch…

We are still promised many dry days and Dear is encouraged with the extra time to finish the siding before the rains come!

When our Saturday was almost done we got one of those dreaded calls that my dad had to call 911 because my mom was very disoriented and didn’t know what end was up. Family met my dad and mom at the hospital and the doctors think she had a TIA event. They kept her overnight and are doing more tests today. I’m happy to be flying down to Southern California next Saturday so I can visit with my mom and dad in person.

So…what’s new in your zoo!?

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Flowering Plants